“HERE WE ARE IN 2004, and things surely are changing. recently one of the largest christian books store chains decided to open for business on sunday, breaking what for many is the law of the sabbath.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about this amazing new concept of Christian thought and management …

…In a sign of how much America is changing, recently one of the largest Christian retailers, “Family Christian Stores,” with 315 stores in 39 states made the historic decision to open its doors for business on Sundays. Many were aghast when they heard this, but Family Christian’s chief executive, Dave Browne said the decision was largely driven by financial competition in the market place. Although the management promised only part time hours on Sunday between worship services, being open from Noon to 5:00 pm, many feel this is a terrible violation of the Sabbath laws of God, and at the least a greedy move by a Christian employer and business to make the cash register the bottom line for their livelihood and living. Still others feel this is a terrible violation of the laws of God for a Christian, to make Sunday a common day of the week.

Who’s right or wrong? Well as many of you know this is a bible based broadcast, and as such we’ll look to the Word of God for answers and help on this explosive matter among worshiping Christians today. But before I get down to bible basics, let’s listen one more time to this enjoyable moment of music then I’ll return with today’s message, REST OR THE REGISTER?

…When Family Christian Stores, one of the largest Christian retailers, made the decision recently to open its doors for business on Sundays, a firestorm of protest came forth mainly by those who are Sunday Sabbath-keepers and worshipers. This idea to make money on the Lord’s day, with business as usual for the week, for them violates God’s Law for life and living as a Christian. Who are these worshipers who feel so strongly? Generally they are those who believe the Old Testament “Law of the Sabbath,” pertaining to the 7^th day of the week called Saturday, which God gave Moses in the Ten Commandments, was somehow transferred to Sundays for the New Testament Christian. Of course there are Saturday Sabbath keepers, but this decision for doing business on Sunday doesn’t bother them because Sunday is for them another work day. Yet how serious a violation is this? What implications are there for such a decision that has in essence violated what once were the Sunday “Blue Laws,” of America ’s past Christian heritage? Well let’s explore this issue now.
Family Christian Stores, a Bible and Christian retailer, said they made this decision to be open Sundays for business mainly due to “direct competition.” What did Dave Browne the chief executive of the company mean by that? Well in context of his explanation for this, was the fact that many churches have been getting into the business of retailing Christian merchandise within the confines of the local church. Opening Christian books stores on the campuses of church facilities is a growing phenomenon. Every Sunday, these in-church Christian bookstores, open their doors for worshippers to buy Christian books, tapes, and other paraphernalia. This Browne says, “has hit hard in their bottom line of profit.” To counter this, they feel it is right to offer the same merchandise at the same time for sale.

Moreover, Dave Brown the CEO, said and I quote, “after prayer, study and seeking counsel from others… we have been personally convicted by several verses in the Bible that this is what the Lord would have us to do!” Wow! How amazing a statement, yet how profound and revealing it is too. The store’s rational is basically, God told them to do it and it’s the Christian thing to do! Now whether it is or not, is the real issue for many Christians today.

Now do Family Christian stores need to be open on Sundays because of profit loss? What do figures and statistics say? For starters, this Christian retailer with over 325 stores in 39 states reported sales last year of more than $ 300 million dollars, and its profit is kept secret as it is a privately held business. CEO Browne said, “it’s tough out there...” Indeed, the business world is tough because of the changing pattern of shopping and shoppers. In the past 40-50 years America has changed its ways particularly when it comes to doing business on Sundays. Years ago many states had on the books what were called BLUE LAWS. These laws forbid certain retailers from opening business on what was traditionally for America , the worship day. They were called blue laws because they were written on blue paper. But now that is virtually gone in America . Sunday is now a common day of the week for work or play.   Amazing as it is, Family Christian stores said part of the decision to open on Sunday was due to the fact that in a national survey of its consumers. “80% said they shop on Sundays regularly and 89% said they would shop the same or more frequently if the retailer extended its hours to Sunday.” This all is reflected in the fact that America ’s traditional shopping on Monday through Friday, has shifted significantly to Saturday and Sunday shopping. Retailers’ nationwide express that the weekend is the time of their best and most profitable sales! Christian businesses apparently feel cheated, so hence the new desire to join the ranks.

Well what can we make of this? Is this yet another mark of evil and disobedience to God, to do business on Sunday, or Saturday depending on what you call the Sabbath? Is a Christian under obligation to treat Sunday as a special day of the week as the Jews were commanded to do with their Saturday Sabbath? Is this a violation of the Christian Sabbath? Well I can’t answer that except for my opinion which is spiritually worthless as is anyone else’s. But I can answer from the Word of God. So let’s examine the Christian day of worship which many call the Christian Sabbath.

To begin, in the Bible God gave the Ten Commandments to His people, the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai . One of the commandments for God’s blessings upon them was the fourth commandment which reads,

Exo 20:10 (NIV)  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

Jer 17:21-22 (NIV “)…keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.

Here were God’s commandments to the Jews who were called out to be His Old Testament people. To break this commandment was a serious capital offense. Indeed, the death penalty was to be meted out to any and all who were guilty of violating it The Bible says,.

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath

Num 15:32-35 (NIV)  While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.”

There is no doubt God meant business! He wanted the Israelites to set aside one day out of seven that was dedicated to Him and His will for them in worship and rest. Nothing was to interfere, or come between them that could be handled regularly during the rest of the week or six days.

However, historically when Jesus Christ came and as the Bible says, “He fulfilled the Law,” or completed its requirements; as such, the Laws of Moses were to be set aside, or at least that is what some have thought. Let’s let the Bible speak to this issue of the Law of Moses and its obligation to believers in the New Testament,

John 1:17 (NLT)  For the law was given through Moses; God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

Rom 8:2 (NLT)  For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.

Rom 10:4 (NLT)  For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him are made right with God.

Gal 3:13 (NLT)  But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Gal 3:24 (NLT)  Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. So now, through faith in Christ, we are made right with God.

Here we discover that the apostles of the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ were taught by divine revelation from God, that the Old Testament Law of Moses as to ceremony and concept had been fulfilled by Jesus Christ in His life and death. In other words the entire purpose of the Law had been completed. The Law of Moses was given to show the Jew that he could not maintain such righteous living, for it was impossible for sinners. The Law was to point to another way to God rather than by mankind’s “righteous” works. That new or other way was through Jesus Christ! He fulfilled the Law for us and we enter into His fulfillment when we transfer our trust and hope to Him, who alone, as God, could be righteous enough to keep God’s holy and perfect law.  Now does this mean Christians were not only freed from the Law of death but the laws God laid down for life and living? The answer is yes and no. Let me explain.

Yes, God freed all of His children from the binding legal and ceremonial Laws of Moses which were simply “pictures” for the Jews to seek and recognize the Messiah when He came. But the moral concepts of the Law which God gave to His ancient people passed on into New Testament Christianity. How you say? Well, every one of the Ten Commandments except the fourth is found in the New Testament. For instance,

The First Commandment – Mat. 4:10 ; 1 John 5:21

The Second Commandment – Rom. 1:23 ; 2:22 ; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 9:20; 10:7

The Third Commandment - Mat 5:34-35; 6:9

The Fourth Commandment – is found NOWHERE in the New Testament!

The Fifth Commandment - Eph. 6:2

The Sixth Commandment – Gal 5:19-21; 1 Pet. 4:15; Rev. 21:8

The Seventh Commandment – Gal. 5:19 ; Rom 2:22 ; 13:9

The Eighth Commandment – Rom. 2:21 ; 13:9; Eph. 4:28; 1 Pet. 4:15

The Ninth Commandment - 1 Tim. 1:9-10; Rev. 21:8; 22:15

The Tenth Commandment – Rom. 1:29 ; 13:9; Eph. 5:3,5; 1 Cor. 5:11 ; 6:10 ; 1 Tim. 3:2-3

In other words, God’s principles of morality and righteous living found in the Law carried over to those whom God raised up following Christ’s resurrection. The Church of Jesus Christ today is to keep these principles of morality and ministry in the daily life and living of God’s people.

But then you rightly ask: What about the Sabbath law? If it is not for us today, has worship truly be done away with? The answer is no. the New Testament speaks to this too. We discover it says,

Col 2:16-17 (NLT)  So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself.

Without a doubt the Sabbath was done away with as to Saturday being an absolute day for worship and ceasing any and all work. Yet, we discover the New Testament saints saved out of Judaism quickly changed the worship day accordingly to reflect the work of Redemption done by Jesus Christ in His resurrection from the dead. The church historically moved worship from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week, when Christ rose from the dead. Listen again to the Word of God,

Acts 20:7 (NLT)  On the first day of the week, we gathered to observe the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching; and since he was leaving the next day, he talked until midnight .

1 Cor 16:2 (NLT)  On every Lord’s Day, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering…”

 Many other verses in the New Testament speak of the “Lord’s Day,” the first day of the week as the time the church held its worship services. In fact, this tradition continued throughout the early centuries as attested to by documents and statements of early Christianity such as: “The Didache,” the “Letter to Barnabas,” Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius, John Crysostom and others. Indeed, Sunday worship became the replacement for Sabbath keeping.

Yet the ceremonial and legal aspects of Old Testament Sabbath keeping were not included. What were some of these explicit legal aspects? Here’s a list for the…

REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE LAW FOR KEEPING THE SABBATH

1. No work was to be done at all on the Sabbath (Ex. 20: 10 ; Lev. 23: 3; Jer. 17:21 -22). That meant no yard work, no hobbies, no swimming, boat, golfing etc. By law if a person did not stop all types of activity in honor of the Sabbath, he was breaking the law. In Numbers 15:32-36 a man was caught collecting sticks on the Sabbath, and he received the death penalty as a result.

2 No kindling of a fire of any kind on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:3). This meant there was to be no fellowship cookouts or barbecues. You can't go into a restaurant and get a hamburger that's been flame broiled, you can't cook eggs, or pancakes in the morning because you'd be kindling a fire for cooking. To drive a car would be to "kindle a fire" In the combustion chamber of your engine.

3. No traveling any distance from your home (Ex. 16:29 ). Later the Jews added to this law, allowing only a half mile of travel on the Sabbath which we see observed in the NT. But the pure law says "stay at home." Actually, if you kept this part of the law, you could not travel to your church gathering unless it was less than one-quarter mile away from home. If you had an emergency you could not drive to the hospital.

4. No trading or business on the Sabbath (Amos 8:5). If you happened to need gas to get to church service, you could not "trade" money for gasoline. You would not be allowed to buy a cassette tape of that morning's message or a book at the church bookstore. There is to be no exchanging of money for goods. If you worked with stocks and you needed to sell you couldn’t.

5. No marketing of any kind was allowed (Neh. 10:31 ; 13:15 ,19). Make sure you do no shopping whatsoever. You can't eat out at a restaurant or buy any ice cream for dessert after dinner or anything else. If you run out of food or drink at home you can’t go out to purchase any, you can’t even by a stick of gum.

6. Your giving is to be doubled on the Sabbath (Num. 28:29) "... a holy assembly with double the daily offering along with the other offerings. In other words, you are to give twice as much on the Sabbath. Do we practice this today in compliance with Old Testament law. Do Sabbatarian's really practice this law?

7. New showbread is to be placed in the holy place (Lev. 24:8). Of course this cannot be done today since there is no temple, so this part of the Sabbath cannot be followed by the church. The fact is the Sabbath was not made for the Gentiles, but for the Jews and their generations (Ex. 31:12-17). It's a law given between God and the Jews only.

8.To break any of these Sabbath practices meant death (Exo. 31:14-15)  The last part of the requirements for keeping the Sabbath day law is the penalty for breaking it.

(Adapted from “How to keep the Sabbath” – Let Us Reason Ministries – http://www.letusreason.org )

The next time someone comes to you and says God requires you keep the Sabbath such as 7^th Day Adventists, or 7^th Day Baptists or such, ask them if they keep the whole law? If not, remind them what the Bible says about this,

James 2:10 (NLT)  And the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of God’s laws.

No friend, God never intended that Sabbath laws and its legal requirements in Israel to carry over into New Testament times; but the “principles” behind it were! God intended for His people of any age to surely give time back to God to worship Him and carry out the ministry of building and edifying the church. This means we should set aside a day, any day we prefer, to take time away from the busyness of life and business, to give it back to God. Sunday has since the inception of the Church, been that time for a Christian. Now admittedly, we live in a secularized age and nation. No longer does the nation honor such principles for Christians. However, that doesn’t stop us from doing so, personally or corporately if our business is Christian oriented. Businesses like the nationwide chains of Chick-Fil-A Restaurants, Hobby Lobby Stores and many other Christian businesses, have chosen to remain closed on Sunday to give their employees a time for REST and WORSHIP. It appears God has honored them too for this. Although they miss big business on Sunday in malls and shopping areas, God has wonderfully blessed their businesses. Hobby Lobby reported a gross sales last year of over $ 1 BILLION dollars! Chick-Fil-A reported growth and success by now serving with 1,100 restaurants in 36 states. I think this is a perfect example of what the Bible tells us in,

1 Sam 2:30 (NLT)”…I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me.”

The point is, a Christian should remember that obeying God’s principles of rest and worship should have precedence over the cash register, regardless of what the unsaved world does. Yet, we must be careful not to make Sunday worship a law filled with rules to follow. To be practical you might ask: “Do I shop on Sunday?” My answer is no, except if an emergency arises, a pipe breaks in my home, bandages are needed, or some other necessity that cannot wait till Monday -- surely I’ll go to the store on Sunday for it. However, my personal rule is Sunday belongs to God, so I’ll do my very best to make it different and dedicated to serving and worshipping God. You too my friend must make a choice. Christianity is not a law keeping, except from the heart in areas that please God, but we must draw the line when it comes to having no particular day dedicated to worshipping God and resting from our labors. If Sunday fails in the heart and life of a Christian, then nothing is really left to give back to God. Although the whole world will neglect it, we can still give it back to God trusting He will honor us. Make it so my friend and forget what others do to the contrary. May God so bless these thoughts to your heart for Jesus sake. Amen.

…Sabbath worship was done away with by the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ died for our sins, and fulfilled the Law of righteousness that makes one worthy of Heaven and eternal life. No man can do or keep the Law perfectly, save Jesus. But thanks be to God, He has and now offers His perfect life to all who receive Him into their hearts and lives. Take Christ as your Savior and you will have fulfilled the Law and be reconciled to God. Fail to do so and you will indeed suffer the penalty of death everlasting to come.